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US 'deeply concerned' over events in Egypt

Ben KnightUpdated
Thu 4 Jul 2013, 1:56 PM AEST

The US President, Barack Obama, says he's 'deeply concerned' over the Egyptian military's removal of Mohammad Morsi, and has urged a quick return to an elected civilian government. He's also said he's ordered a review of the legal implications for US aid to Egypt, in the wake of the toppling of the country's first democratically elected leader.

Transcript

SCOTT BEVAN: Earlier, I spoke to Washington correspondent Ben Knight for more on the US reaction to the latest developments.

BEN KNIGHT: First of all Scott, the US has pulled its staff, its non-essential staff, out of the Cairo embassy. It's also warning other Americans not to travel to Egypt. You'd imagine that those are mostly precautions, but most significant are the political responses from the White house, and it's a very tricky walk for the United States here.

It's got so much invested in Egypt and obviously Egypt's continuing democracy, so what the statement from the white house has said is that it's deeply concerned about the military's decision to remove president Morsi and to suspend the constitution.

It's calling for a return to civilian government as soon as possible, which is of course what the army has said it will do. But it's also said that it wants the army to avoid any arbitrary arrests of president Morsi or his supporters. We are getting some reports out of Egypt at the moment that that has happened.

But most of all - and this goes to what the United States has been saying all along as the situation has deteriorated in Egypt, that the voices of those who have protested peacefully must be heard and today, it's said that includes those who support the overthrow of the president as well as those who've supported president Morsi.

So really, calling for calm but just watching the situation before it really decides to take any side.

SCOTT BEVAN: The one word that has been much-studied here is 'coup'. Now the supporters of Mohammed Morsi are calling it a coup - how significant is that?

BEN KNIGHT: Well it's significant for the United States because the United States contributes anywhere between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion a year in aid to the Egyptian military, so the United States' own rules say that if here's been a government overthrow of a democratically elected government, then it has to suspend that aid.

So is this a coup, or is this not?

Well, this statement from the White House said that - it doesn't mention the word 'coup'. What it does say is that the president has directed the relevant departments to "review the implications under the law" for that ongoing assistance, but doesn't say whether it's going to continue or not.

The US said that it stood by the results of the democratic elections which saw the president come to power, but it's been increasingly critical - you've seen the White House pulling back, and it's a difficult situation for the United States.

I mean this is the world's biggest and most powerful democracy essentially being put in a position where it's being asked to approve or disapprove of the army overthrowing the government.

SCOTT BEVAN: Talking of roadmaps, as the military has - the Egyptian military has - the roadmap for Egypt, what is the likely roadmap for US/Egypt relations from here on?

BEN KNIGHT: Well, I don't think there's any doubt that the United States and indeed the rest of the world and indeed the people who have come out in not only Tahrir Square - which is of course the focus - but also Alexandria and other parts of the country, that the whole point of this was to force new elections.

Now the US had been in fact pressuring Egypt to hold those new elections, and Egypt is a different case.

I mean in Egypt, the army is absolutely revered, and as far as the United States is concerned, the army is stability - it's the army that the United States has really had their relationship with, but of course it also understands that the army is the only thing that probably can safely take this country to where it needs to go.

Now a lot depends on what happens over the next few days - the army are on the streets, and they will be doing what they did last time: trying to stop it from degenerating into some kind of, if not civil disobedience, civil war.